Light Commercial Masonry in St. Paul
10 Years
Workmanship warranty, in writing
We are a residential masonry company that takes on small commercial work, and we would rather describe that accurately than dress it up.
What we are good for is the repair end of small commercial: parapets, chimney and cap work on older buildings, and tuckpointing on brick and stone commercial and industrial elevations. What we are not is a large commercial contractor, and we turn down that work instead of stretching to take it on.
Signs Your Commercial Masonry Needs Repair
The parapet is coming apart
Parapet walls take weather on both faces and from above, with no roof over them and nothing to shelter them, so they fail years before the rest of the elevation. On a small commercial block, the parapet is usually the first masonry anyone has to spend money on.
Mortar is failing across a brick or stone elevation
Older commercial and industrial brick in this metro is frequently well past the life of its original mortar. It tends to get noticed when something starts coming through a wall into a tenant space.
Water is getting into the top floor, and nobody can find where
On a building where the parapet, the chimneys and the coping all sit in the same few feet of roof edge, there are several candidates in one place, and they are not always independent of each other.
Brickwork is cracked or has come loose above an entrance or a window
The same lintel and movement problems that show up on houses show up on a building, where the consequence of a falling brick is different.
A chimney or cap on a commercial property needs rebuilding
Shared-wall buildings put chimneys and caps in awkward places with awkward access, and access is usually the reason a quote on one comes back higher than the owner expected.
What We Take On
Parapet wall rebuild and repair
Rebuilding failed parapet sections, repointing sound ones, and addressing the coping at the top, which is usually where the water is actually getting in.
Chimney and cap rebuild on commercial buildings
The same work as on a house, on buildings where access is the difficult part.
Tuckpointing on commercial and industrial brick and stone
Including older buildings. Grinding out failed mortar and replacing it, with the specification chosen for the masonry in front of us, not by default.
Commercial masonry repairs
Cracked and displaced brick, lintels, spalling and localized rebuilds on small commercial buildings.
Brick and block work on small commercial buildings
Repair and replacement. New commercial brickwork is outside what we take on.
Estimates and written scope for building owners and property managers
Free, in person, and documented enough to take to a board, an owner, or a budget meeting.
What this job does not include
Large commercial work. This is the first item on the list of things Sam does not take on, and it is a real limit, not a negotiating position.
Ground-up commercial construction. Not something we are set up for.
Historic and heritage-designated commercial restoration. We refer designated work to a mason who specializes in it.
Drainage systems, below-grade membrane waterproofing, piering and structural underpinning. Not our trade on any building.
Flue liners, dampers and chimney sweeping, commercial or residential.
Concrete flatwork, slabs, paver hardscape and segmental block.
How It Runs
Why A Small Crew Suits This Work
The owner writes the estimate himself
Sam prices the job, and he is on site during it rather than only at the start. On a building where a decision has to be made mid-job, that shortens the chain from four people to one.
Price, and the reason for it
We are a six-person company without a management layer, and our pricing reflects that. Sam's view on the trade is that offering only the largest version of a repair does not give the customer a choice, and that applies at least as much to a building owner working within a budget as it does to a homeowner.
Ten years on the workmanship
The same warranty as the residential side, covering what we did. Written terms available at the estimate. It is not a materials warranty.
Where The Line Is, And Why We Say So Out Loud
We are not trying to grow this side of the business. Saying so on a services page is unusual, and it is more useful to you than the alternative: a company that takes the job and then discovers it is bigger than the crew.
The practical line is size and complexity, not the word commercial. A parapet on a two-story building, an elevation of failing mortar on a small commercial block, a stretch of brick repair on an older industrial building. That is our range, and we do it properly. A multi-story envelope restoration with a general contractor, a schedule of trades, and a submittal process is not, and you are better served by a firm built for it.
One thing worth stating plainly, because it affects who should hire us. Our Minnesota license, BC807211, is a residential building contractor license. That is the correct license for what we do, and it is worth knowing up front on a commercial page instead of discovering it later. It is part of why our commercial scope is deliberately narrow, and if your project needs something different, we would rather tell you now.
We carry insurance, and a certificate is available on request. We are not going to publish coverage lines or limits here, because the numbers a commercial customer needs are between you, us, and our agent, and putting a schedule on a web page is a representation we are not going to make casually.
What you get from a company this size is that the owner is on the estimate and on the job. What you do not get is a project management layer, a submittal process, or a crew of thirty. On the scope above, we think that trade is a good one. Above it, it is not, and that is why the line exists.
Common Questions
Small ones. Parapets and commercial chimney and cap work, tuckpointing on brick and stone elevations, and localized brick repair on small commercial and older industrial buildings. Large commercial work is something we decline.
Yes, and the written estimate is prepared so it can be handed to an owner, a board or a manager who was not at the site visit.
Our Minnesota license, BC807211, is a residential building contractor license. That is the right license for the work we do, and it is one of the reasons our commercial scope is deliberately narrow. If a project needs something else, we will tell you.
Yes, and a certificate of insurance is available on request. We do not publish coverage lines or limits on the website.
We tuckpoint older commercial and industrial buildings. Heritage-designated restoration work is referred to a mason who specializes in it, because that is a different discipline and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Because it has weather on both faces and from above, with no roof protecting it and no building warmth behind it. It is the most exposed masonry on a building, which is why it is usually the first thing that needs money spent on it.
Interior masonry carries on through the winter, and so do estimates. Exterior work waits for weather mild enough for mortar to cure.
Usually within about a month for non-urgent work. Interior masonry carries on through the winter; exterior mortar needs weather mild enough to cure, so which side of that line your job falls on is what decides the date rather than the month on the calendar.
No. We do not deal with adjusters or coordinate claims. We can document what we find so you have something to submit, and the coverage decision is between you and your insurer.
No. Free and in person, the same as residential.
Where We Do This Work
We take on light commercial across the same metro as the residential side, listed in full on our service area page. On a commercial building, the more useful conversation before a visit is scope rather than distance, so tell us the size first.
What Customers Say
What appears below is our live Google feed rather than testimonials we picked out, so it shows whatever is genuinely on it.
Google review, September 2025Get A Free Estimate
Tell us what the building is, what you are seeing, and roughly how big the affected area is. Photographs of the elevation and of the specific defect save a visit that turns out to be the wrong fit for both of us.
If it is larger than what is described on this page, we will say so on the phone, before anyone books a visit.
Call (612) 509-0718 · 10-year workmanship warranty · Certificate of insurance on request